


Let Me Be Surprised

by runners345ready



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Autopilot - Freeform, Gen, Runner Five is a dog, S3M13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2018-11-28 20:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11425146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runners345ready/pseuds/runners345ready
Summary: Runner Five and Nadia work on their relationship while on a long cross country trip together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on S3M13, so spoilers up to that point. Enjoy.

There were plenty of advantages of running with Five, Nadia had to admit. Five didn’t mind taking long loops ahead on the path to scout, and they're always quiet and professional. But there were disadvantages… One thing was the fact that Nadia had once tried to actively kill Runner Five in the past (though it seems they’d made amends, if this trip meant anything). The problem was that Five is a dog.

Nadia couldn’t figure out how to talk to them. Through the Comms, it was easy enough to talk to Five like any other runner. But face to face (face to muzzle?) it was harder to justify talking to a dog. Sam and everyone always say that you can just talk to Five. ‘Just talk to the dog’. Like it’s that easy.

On top of that, Nadia’s not sure if Five even likes her. Five shows happiness and loyalty freely. Tail wags, those little yips, even licking people they really liked. Nadia hadn’t seen any of that directed towards her. Five would even wag their tail at just hearing Sam’s voice over Comms. Not the autopilot Sam though. Five growled at that.

There had to be a way to get Five to like her. Ear scratches? Belly rubs? Maybe Nadia could find dog treats somewhere? Though they might all be gone, considering the state of the world. Not the worst thing you could eat in desperation.

Five didn’t seem to hate her per say, but the dog didn’t seem to have any sort of feeling for Nadia one way or the other in particular. It was difficult to tell. Nadia’s not an expert in dog body language.

The Sam bot was talking again and Nadia heard the small growl from Five. It wasn’t really a distraction, the crawler just came out of nowhere.

“Ah! Five, help!” She yells, not able to see if Five even comes at the call cause she goes down on the ground with a crawler grabbing her ankle.

A vicious snarl proves that Five has very quickly leap into the fray. Nadia looks to see Five biting into the zombies leg.

“Five! It’s got my leg!” She cries. Five leaps forward and grabs the zombie in a place that would really hurt a living person.

Five’s persistent tugging eventually draws the zombie off enough that it lets go of Nadia. But it is still trying to grab her, attention divided between the dog snarling at it and the human it wants to get its teeth into.

Nadia frantically rips off her bag and starts to rummage through it. She finds the flare gun in the pocket and aims it at the zombie’s face. But Five is right there on its back and digging in hard with a bloodier and bloodier muzzle. Nadia doesn’t trust her aim enough to not hit the dog.

“Look out Five!” For a second, Nadia isn’t sure if the order is specific enough for the dog to follow (does Five actually understand or just follow commands with an expanded vocabulary from normal dogs?), but the next second Five has leapt off to the side and out of the way.

Nadia shoots the flare and it imbeds in the zombie’s forehead. It flails wildly, flames quickly consuming its dry flesh.

Five is almost instantly by Nadia’s and nudging her up to her feet, pressing up into her back with their own.

“Thanks Five,” Nadia murmurs. “That zombie just came out of that bush… The bush that is now on fire…” Nadia looks down to see Five tracking the flaming zombie with vague interest. “We need to get out of here.”

******

The rest of the forest catching fire happened quickly, and Nadia was not able to outrun it. Then she lost sight of Five in the smoke, she was sure the dog would leave her behind. She could rationalize the instinct, but felt very betrayed by the thought.

But something grabbed her wrist. First instinct was to shake it off, and it released, but grabbed back on once she stops. That’s when she realized it was Five grabbing her sleeve.

After Five gives Nadia a moment to get oriented before they start pulling her.

While Nadia coughs into her shirt, eyes watering, she tries to see through the smoke. For now, she has to trust that Five knows where to go. Maybe being closer to the ground means that Five is away from the smoke.

Five suddenly let’s go of Nadia’s sleeve. At first Nadia panics before she feels Five brushing around her legs, circling around once and then twice.

A whimper comes from around her legs as Five is clearly disoriented.

“Five, where can we go?” Nadia coughs. The fire is all around them.

“What the hell is going on here?!?” Sam’s real voice comes over the radio.

Five yips excitedly at the sound.

“Sam! Help!” Nadia shouts.

“Okay, keep moving. I’ll use your trackers to figure out where you are.”

“Alright,” Nadia responds.

Five grabs onto Nadia’s sleeve and starts pulling.

“Five, Nadia. I need a view around you. Aim your head cam around to the left Nadia. Five you know how to give me a good look.”

Five let’s go of Nadia. She can’t see the soot-covered dog well enough through the smoke so she can’t see what they’re doing.

“Good. So if you continue down to the right, there’s a church with a gate you can get away from the zombies. Oh, did I mention there were zombies chasing you too?"

Nadia hears a small growl from Five before her sleeve is grabbed again. Five quickly drags Nadia along, somehow keeping her from tripping on the landscape under their feet.

"There, get that gate closed, Five." Five leaves Nadia again and a squeaking gate sound comes from behind her.

"Well done Five. Now, let's get you two out of their."

Again, Five is dragging Nadia along in the blinding smoke. Being dragged kind of getting old at this point.

Nadia feels dirt start to descend to her right, like there's a steep incline on the edge of the path.

Five whimpers and gives a small yip.

"What's wrong Five..? Oh, I see."

"What is it Sam?" Nadia asks.

"There's a locked gate. You're not getting out of there easily. And those zombies are getting through that other gate. Uh... Five! There's a hose against the wall. You can use that."

Five gives a yip of agreement. At this point, Nadia can finally see far enough to sort of see Five as they grab the garden hose in their mouth and take off, running towards the shambling dead. Five easily maneuvers between the feet of the zombies, distracting and entangling them at the same time.

"Now Five!" Sam gives the cue and Five jerks hard on the hose, pulling it taunt and effectively tripping the zombies all at once and sending them staggering down the hill, splashing in some water source down below.

"Die! Die!" Nadia yells excitedly. "Or at least... Sink!"

"Nice work Five! Now back out the gate you came through and head North. The wind is blowing South so we can get you out of the smoke."

Five's tail wags a little at Sam's voice and the praise.

When Five looks back at Nadia, their tail has stopped wagging. Five then takes a position next to Nadia as a guide.

Nadia puts a hand on Five's back and they start of at a quick clip out through the smoke and continue on their way.


	2. You Can't Keep a Good Dog Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five stares at the flowers with an intensity that a dog should be able to give vegetation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, pretty brutal zombie killing in this one, canon typical I suppose, but yeah, zombies are killed.

Five stares at the flowers with an intensity that a dog should be able to give vegetation.

"Five?" Nadia asks in their direction.

Five looks up at her and trots over, sweeping around Nadia, pushing her gently away from the plants.

Five gives Nadia a steady look, then continues on, taking up a patrol position.

"This is where we're supposed to be, right Sam?" Nadia asks.

The signal is a bit crackly when Sam breaks in.

"You're at the right coordinates. That's weird because this place is supposed to be huge. Wait, Five. I think I saw something through your head cam. Look back to the left."

Five turns their head and Sam hums in thought.

"I think I see something. Is that... a rope ladder?"

Five yips and darts forward then barks excitedly.

Nadia catches up, seeing Five with their paws up on the trunk of a tree, looking up. They bark a few times, in a pitch Sam must understand immediately for the excitement it is.

"What do you see Five?"

Nadia finally looks up as well.

"Oh, Sam! It's up in the trees! The base is a tree house."

"That is so cool!" Sam says energetically. Five yips to match him. "Oh, it's got rope bridges! That's so amazing."

"Yeah," Nadia states. "It lets the base move when the trees sway in the wind. It's really impressive."

Five barks happily and dances around the tree.

"You need to get up there," Sam asserts.

"Right. I don't know about you Five, but I'm going to find a place to sit down and put my feet up and sleep for-"

A snarl, screaming sound echoes from somewhere around them. Five immediately spinning around in circles, snarling in response.

"Or maybe I'll stay wide awake," Nadia says with a suddenly shaking voice.

On instinct, she starts to climb up the rope ladder. She's about halfway up before she looks back, expecting to see Five right behind her. That's just how it's been this whole trip.

Instead, Five is still on the ground, looking up at Nadia tail drooped and whimpering quietly.

"Oh, I guess you can't really follow me..." Nadia mumbles, half tempted to go back down, knowing she'd feel safer with Five.

"How about I go up and check things out?"

"Are you sure about that Nadia?" Sam says with concern clear in his voice.

"Yeah I'm sure. It's probably safer in the tree anyways. It's not like zombies can climb."

Five gives a lower pitched whine from the ground and starts to sniff around at a quick pace.

Nadia continues up the rope ladder and arrives at the top. Sam was chattering, either to himself or to Five.

Nadia knows she's got to get cameras on for Sam as soon as possible. Their head cams can't be showing too much this far away.

She starts following wires in order to get to the hub.

The base is even more impresses up here, she can almost forget the terrifying screech she heard on the ground, if that wasn't the most pressing concern of the moment. It didn't sound like a zombie, but maybe it was echoing weirdly off the trees. Yeah, that must have been it.

"What was that?" Sam says in Nadia's ear.

"What was what?"

"Hm... I thought I saw something through your head cam... Five? I need you to head towards where Nadia is. Then go to the left. Try to give me a good look at the walkways above. Nadia can't spend time looking around and getting those cameras running."

Five yips in answer and Nadia hears the trotting footsteps through her headset.

"Okay Five, just look up that tree, give us a good look around... Hm... Oh God, there's something up there with you," Sam whispers in shock.

"What is it?" Nadia asks, hearing a low growling starting from Five.

"I can't tell yet. I need cams, Nadia. Five, can you find a way up there?"

Five whines and Nadia hears dashing steps on the leaves down below.

"Sam?" Nadia starts, hands shaking.

"Just keep working on those cameras. Five's working on getting to you. Don't worry. It's not right in front of you.... That was not as comforting as I thought it would be. You're gonna be fine."

Sam then goes back to talking to Five and Nadia cautiously follows the wires to their origin. She finally finds the hub and gets to work.

"It's fast! Really fast. I don't think it's a zombie... Five, what do you think?"

Cat!

Nadia can hear Five's sharp bark and wonders if Sam gets anything out of that. She works quickly on getting cameras online. She's almost got it.

"It's on four legs. So it's definitely not a zombie. Five, swing the head cam towards Nadia," Sam orders.

Pack!

"Oh no, Nadia! It's heading right for you. You need to start moving. Run!"

"I need just one second Sam!" Nadia yells back, she can hear more frantic barking from the ground far below.

Cat! Cat! Protect the pack!

"You don't have time Nadia! Five can't get up there! You need to get down or lock yourself in somewhere. That thing is some sort of big cat. A lynx maybe?"

Cat!

"You need cameras!" Nadia growls.

"And I need you to not die!" Sam yells back. "Five!"

Pack! Pack! Protect the pack!

Nadia ignores Sam and the incessant barking that is probably attracting zombies. "There! You should have cams now!" Nadia says into her headset.

"Okay, now run! Out the door and get going down that pathway. I'll guide you!" Sam shouts.

Pack! Protect the pack! Cat!

Nadia takes off running, but suddenly feels something wrap around her wrist, pulling her back and cutting into her skin. She yelps in pain and fear as she can hear some kind of animal growls not far behind her.

Pack! Pack?

Nadia!

"Oh my God! Nadia!" Sam yells into his mic. Nadia can hear the sound of his chair clattering to the ground.

"Sam," Nadia whispers shakily. "I can see it. It's not just a cat. It's a zombie. It's grey. Part of its face is missing. I can see part of its jaw." The cat stares down the walkway at Nadia. It growls and shuffles forward.

"It's... It's going to kill me Sam," Nadia says and struggle her wrist against the wire. She feels it cut her and feels blood drip down her fingertips.

The cat lifts its head and sniffs the air. Obviously smelling the blood, it yowls and starts charging directly for Nadia.

Nadia screams and tries to scramble away but can't get far. The cat leaps at her, but suddenly a snarl pierces the air.

Five jumps over Nadia and turns in the air, kicking the cat in the face. Five lands gracefully without a scratch and crouching in a defensive posture in front Nadia. Five snarls threateningly as the cat struggles up to its feet.

"Five?" Nadia gasps.

Five doesn't glance back, instead glares at the cat. Sizing up the opponent with an intense stare.

"Five? How did you even get up there?"

Five ignores Sam also, instead slowly starts circling towards the cat. Five hesitates slightly when the cat circles them in turn.

"I... I don't think we've seen a zombie act like before," Sam comments, Five snarling in response.

"What... what do you mean?" Nadia whispers, as if afraid to break the spell between the two animals.

"Zombies just shuffle to the nearest food source... This isn't-"

Five effectively cuts Sam off by barking loudly and dancing back away from the cat. The cat snarls, looks at Nadia then back at the barking Five. Once it looks at Five, they take off running down the pathway. As soon as the cat sees the motion, it chases after Five fast as lightning.

Nadia listens as the barking starts to fade into the distance then realizes she should really try to get herself out of the snare.

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a pair of wire clippers.

Meanwhile Five continues to lead the cat further away from Nadia. Growling, Five glances back to see how close the cat is. Nothing has quite been able to keep up when Five runs at full tilt. The cat is fast.

Cat!

"Five, it's gone up on a platform. I can't see it anymore," Sam says. But Five can still hear it. It's above them, growling viciously and matching Five step for step.

Cat!

Five yelps when the cat leaps down from a hole in the cover and tackles Five. Five attempts to twist and break free from the cat. Together they crash through the railing and go tumbling to the ground far below.

"Five! Oh god Five, are you okay?" Sam calls, agonizing over the silence. Then Five lets out a high-pitched whine. "Oh thank goodness. Five that cat landed a few feet away from you. But it's getting up. Five, you need to get up that tree again. Come on Five, I know you must hurt but-"

With another whine, Five struggles up.

"That's it, come on Five! Come on! Uh... How do we get you back up there? I don't even know you got up in the first place!" Five yips and turns their head cam towards the ladder. "Is that still an option?" Five whines low. "Okay, so that's a 'No'. Well, we'll have to find another way." Five looks back and sees the cat already in pursuit. It smells like its rotten flesh has broken open, but it's still coming after them.

"Five! The branches in that willow are low, you might be able to climb them!"

Five seems to give a confirming sound and veers towards the tree. They pause at the bottom of the branches and give a small whine. Before Sam can think to offer encouragement, Five bunches their feet up and takes a leap onto a low, steady looking branch.

"Nadia, can you get to the platform by the kitchen? Five's going to need your help getting up." Sam says, stirring Nadia from the helpless feeling she had been experiencing since Five went over the edge. Five should be dead.

"Yeah, I'm on my way," She says as a low whine comes over her headset. Five has got to be hurting.

Nadia runs as fast as she can to the platform and looks over the edge dizzily.

She spots Five cautiously climbing the thinner branches, not far from the platform.

Five looks up at Nadia, tongue lolled as they pant, obviously overworked and tired.

"You're almost there Five. Just a bit further." Nadia lies on her stomach and reaches a hand.

Five whimpers quietly and struggles further up the tree another branch closer. Nadia tries to ignore the zombie cat beginning to crawl up into the branches.

A branch cracks under Five's paws, Five looking up at Nadia with concern.

"Come on Five, you can do it." Nadia reaches further.

Five leaps suddenly, open mouthed towards Nadia's hand. Nadia, expecting sharp teeth biting into her flesh. Instead, Five's mouth barely bites down and Five's paws hook onto the wooden platform.

Five quickly releases Nadia's arm and scrambles to pull themself up.

Nadia quickly gets into a kneeling position and grabs onto Five's backpack, pulling them up.

Five looks at Nadia with a lulled tongue with a soft stare. They look at each other for a moment before the cat bounds up and lands on the platform a few feet away from them. Five snarls and pushes Nadia with their nose and takes off running right behind her. Keeping right behind Nadia, Five half watches the cat, and listens to Sam making a plan.

"There might be a weapon in that store room ahead of you, keep going."

Five looks up, panting. Then they nose Nadia forward and take off running down another path. Nadia watches out of the corner of her eye as Five fearlessly leaps between pathways, showing no fear even after falling only moments ago.

Nadia knows she has to trust Five, but now the cat is chasing her.

She runs on to the supply room and starts digging through it.

"Sam, I found an axe!" Nadia calls through her headset.

"Alright, get ready with that. You might have to fight that thing."

Nadia picks up the axe, feeling the weight in her hands. She turns and hefts the axe up. The cat continues charging towards her, snarling. She prepares to swing as the cat nears to pounce. Another snarl comes from the side and Five leaps in and chomps down hard directly on the cat's head.

The cat comes to an abrupt stop, then starts struggling against Five. It tries to claw at Five's face, but Five has a paw on top of it's feet.

Five struggles against the cat in turn, makes a quick shift of grip then gives a hard twist. The cat goes limp.

Five holds tight for a moment longer, then wretches their teeth free.

Nadia watches on as Five pants on shaking legs. Nadia glances at the dead cat.

Five isn't like any other dog, not at all. If Five ever, ever turned on them, Nadia decides, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Five looks up at Nadia, still panting and with blood on their face. Five swallows hard and stares at Nadia intensely. After a long moment, Five's tail wags slightly.

"You just killed the only know animal to turn into a zombie. That could have been the key to the cure."

Both Nadia and Five spin around at the sound of a human voice. Five doesn't growl right off the bat, instead sniffs the air and cocks their head at the new comer.

"Uh, hi. I'm Nadia and this is Runner Five. "

"Yes, I know who you are. You're from Abel Township. You killed my father."

Nadia glances at Five, but Five is staring intently at this new comer. Their tail wags slightly, then droops.

Five seems to know the girl, at least in some since. Now Nadia just has to figure out who she is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I experimented a bit with Runner Five is a Dog's thoughts... I hope it looks okay and translates. Got inspired to finish this thanks to high5runner5 drawing doggy Runner Five. This Five is perhaps a bit more vicious than that one, but anyways. Thanks for that drawing!

**Author's Note:**

> Another addition to my, Runner Five is actually a dog with a back pack, head canon. I love this idea, though it tweaks the story a bit and I will personally write all of the fic about Doggo Five if I feel the draw. I also didn't feel like getting all the dialogue right, really sorry about that if it bothers you (Five's dialogue is spot on though). Title comes from the song in All Dogs go to Heaven, which I found to be very appropriate. Thanks as always for reading.


End file.
